Endozoochory of Chrysobalanus icaco (Cocoplum) by Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) facilitates rapid germination and colonization in a suburban nature preserve

AoB Plants
Carolyn J HanishCorey Devin Anderson

Abstract

Some large-seeded plants lack effective seed dispersal agents when they are introduced as ornamental plants to new areas, but can rapidly colonize a landscape if seed dispersal functions are restored. We examined whether Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) facilitated the spread of Chrysobalanus icaco (Cocoplum; Chrysobalanaceae) over a 14-year period in a suburban nature preserve (in Jupiter, FL, USA) by: (i) comparing germination patterns among gut-passed, hand-depulped and whole fruit treatments, and (ii) testing hypotheses about environmental predictors of the spatial distribution of C. icaco, including information about G. polyphemus movement pathways and burrow locations. While we did not find a significant difference in the total proportion of C. icaco seeds that germinated in each treatment, time to event analysis revealed that seeds that were found in faeces germinated significantly earlier than seeds that were hand-depulped or that were planted as whole fruits, supporting a lone scarification effect. Point process modeling revealed that the density of C. icaco bushes was higher near G. polyphemus movement pathways and was lower inside Serenoa repens (Saw Palmetto) patches, supporting a positive effect of tortoise mo...Continue Reading

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
dissection

Software Mentioned

R
maptools
Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office
spatstat
rgdal
ArcGIS
SPSS
icaco
Trimble
Terrasync

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